Dark Heart
by Kami1
Summary: What would have happened if Goten had left, feeling snubbed after Goku's return and began attending OSH 1 and a half years later, placed in Gohan, Videl and Trunks' (having skipped many grades) class.


Dark Heart  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.  
  
  
  
  
Warning: This fic is a dark AU about what Goten's life after the Buu Saga could have been like. If you don't like dark, angsty fics, then don't read this. Also, for the purposes of this fic, Trunks is in University with Gohan because he managed to get 100% on his entrance exams, even without any formal education, besides all the teaching Bulma did, and they are, along with Videl in their last year of high school. Goten has radically changed his appearance, so they can't recognize him. Also, Tend Uun is actually Goten in a sophisticated disguise and that's about it. You have been warned.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A Twisted Past  
  
  
  
  
"Class, I'd like to introduce you to our newest students, Ms. Lime Uun and her brother Tend Uun," Gohan's English teacher announced loudly, waking him from the light sleep he'd been in. "They will be joining our class for the remainder of this semester and both scored in the high 90s on their entrance exams, even though I must admit that Mr. Tend's age is quite startling for a Grade 13 student, at only 9 years of age, he's even younger than Mr. Briefs. So, do either of you have anything to tell the class about yourselves?"  
  
"Lime quickly cut in, knowing how her adopted brother hated to talk about his past, what little of it even she knew, "Well... we're both from a small village the 439 mountain area and before anyone asks, we both fly to school. We were taught both academics and martial arts by our grandfather and Sensei, so don't mess with us because he's nearly the equal of the legendary Muten Roshi and-"  
  
Suddenly, there was a snort from the back of the room. Tracing it to its source, Goten sent a glare worthy of even Vegeta to the purple haired boy in the back, not much older than him, who'd dared to insult his adoptive grandfather's name. "Do you find something funny about our grandfather, Trunks," Goten said in a chilling tone that sent shivers down Trunks' spine, but since the day he'd been born, Vegeta had drilled one thing into his son. "Noone insults a Saiyajin prince, human," Trunks spat back with equal venom, his lack of recognition bringing a relieved smile to Goten's face. He'd been worried that even with his disguise, there was no way his former best friend would fail to recognize him.  
  
Unfortunately for the 2, however, Gohan misinterpreted his unrecognizable brother's smile, as a mocking one and hoping to stop Trunks from killing the boy, he decided to step in. Taking a step in between the 2, as to catch Trunks if he charged, Gohan said to the short, raven haired boy who'd dared mock one of the most powerful fighters in the universe, "I recommend you stop right now. Trunks is very proud and powerful. Mocking him is not the safest thing for you to do, especially after he lost his best friend just a little more than a year ago. I recommend you apologize to hi-" but then Gohan suddenly stopped, not because of any problem with him, but with the boy who'd only a moment before been staring Trunks down, as only Vegeta could. The boy was on the ground, twitching madly, as if having a seizure.  
  
"Son Gohan," the teacher said, worried about the boy who only a moment ago had been unflinchingly staring down the one student even she failed to intimidate. "What happening to him?"   
  
Before Gohan could volunteer to help get the boy to the nurse's office, Lime said, glaring at her former friend, failing to notice the mention of his name with her brother lay in such a state, "I think you've helped quite enough for one day. I'll take him. Don't worry. This happens to him occasionally. From what he's told us, he had a pretty bad life before my grandfather adopted him and it seems to inspire these flashbacks in him occasionally. He'll be fine in about an hour, but I'd better take him, just to be sure," and without even waiting for her teacher's approval, she rushed toward the nurse's office at speeds that even Videl could barely equal.   
  
  
  
  
In Goten's mind...   
  
  
  
  
"I wonder, where am I?" Goten's curious mind asked itself, not knowing that it was a dream and just accepting the fact that he was no longer in his high school. "Oh no," he suddenly thought, horrified at the scene he was viewing from within... himself.   
  
It had been only about 2 years ago, just after Majin Buu was defeated. They'd all been at a party at Capsule Corp for the whole gang and he'd decided to follow his big brother, noticing that noone else, even his mom, or Trunks, seemed to pay him nearly as much attention as before his dad had come back. Bulma was taking Gohan on a tour of her private lab, displaying ideas beyond the comprehension of science to explain, but brought to life by Bulma's ingenious mind.  
  
Gohan was very interested in all Bulma's gadgets, but his little brother, without anywhere near his level of education, didn't really find any of the stuff interesting. He'd just come along because Gohan was the only person who still acted the same around him. Gohan had promised that he'd be there for his little brother forever and even now that their dad was back, still was.  
  
Suddenly noticing a strange gem in the corner of his eye, Goten decided to venture a question to the blue haired genius. "Bulma, what's that thingy," he said, pointing at the emerald green gem on the table.  
  
"Oh, that's one of my newest inventions. It's a substance that distorts the ki of its user, multiplying it to levels far beyond their true power, or shrinking it until it's practically nonexistent. I based the design on the material used by a rebellious race, Gohan, Krillin and I found on our way to Namek. It served to distort the appearance of their ship and hide them from scouters. You remember them, right Gohan?" Gohan nodded to show he remembered the race. "This replication of that material is even better than the original though because it can be changed at will, instead of having to use the long tedious process of having to replicate a whole new lattice structure to change its effect." At the time Goten hadn't seen it as a big deal, just thinking that the crystal was pretty, until a few months later, which was now where he quite suddenly found himself...  
  
It was 6 months after Majin Buu's destruction and things had been getting worse for Goten. Now even his older brother wouldn't play with him much, saying that he was going to see Videl. At first Goten hadn't minded, thinking that having a big sister would be cool, but since then he'd changed his mind. It wasn't so much that he'd gained a sister, but that he'd lost a brother. Videl was nice, but it was pretty obvious that she preferred Gohan's company over Goten's and Gohan seemed to feel the same way. Now Goten spent most of his time alone. His dad wasn't allowed to train Goten since he'd accidentally hurt him, Trunks always had to train with his dad, or study with what he called his Chi Chified mother and Gohan was always gone. It seemed that nobody liked him and it was almost as if they shunned him. To him Gohan's engagement wasn't something worth celebrating, but simply the final knot tieing up his doom to be hated, shunned and ignored. It was the moment when Goten finally decided that he had to die... for everyoneÕs sake.   
  
About 2 weeks ago he'd came up with a plan. He decided life was no longer worth living and nobody would probably care if he died anyway, so he got to work. His first step was to learn instant transmission because there was no way he could outrun his family without it. So he'd first convinced his mother to let him train with his dad to learn just that one technique. After she'd agreed, he'd gotten to train with his dad and it was so much fun that he almost decided to stop his plan, but after a couple of days his dad just left, obviously bored with his son and wanting a good fight. From that moment on, Son Goku became Goten's worst enemy and was always the push he needed to make it that one step closer to the release that death offered him. Without that motivation, he could never have mastered the instant transmission alone and perhaps not even been able to carry through with his plan, but such was not to be and on the night of Gohan's engagement he'd left to die, using the IT to break into Bulma's lab and grab the crystal, as well as all her plans for it, although at that time he knew not what caused him to take the plans too and with his ki now effectively eliminated went off to die.  
  
It took Goten's "family," as he now thought of them, 3 hours to even notice he was gone. That was really what clinched it for Goten. If even his best friend Trunks and hid brother, who'd promised to be there for him forever, could forget he existed for that long, then he was sure that they wouldn't care if he ceased to exist totally, so he used Instant Transmission to send himself into the vacuum of space, where not even a Super Saiyajin could survive.   
  
Then he discovered the one flaw in his plan. Since Goku had left so early in his training, he'd never mastered the precision necessary to end up just outside the Earth's atmosphere, thereby cremating his already dead corpse, so noone would ever see him again. Without this precision, however, he missed his target, instead ending up just on the edge of Earth's atmosphere and without enough oxygen to summon the necessary energy to fly down to the surface. Pulled by the Earth's gravitational forces, he flew straight towards the Earth's surface like a ballistic missile heading for its target. Clothes shredded and body beaten by the friction against the air and his eventual crash into the ground, lacking even the minimal energy required to bring his defenses up.   
  
Goten would have still succeeded in dying though, if not for a curious, 17 year old girl, who discovered his body 8 hours later in one of her favorite places to train with her grandfather. Unbeknownst to Goten until months later, he'd in fact landed less than 10 km away from his original home.  
  
The 2, granddaughter and grandfather, nursed Goten back to perfect health, offering to adopt him if he wished and after a few days thought Goten accepted. So what if he wasn't actually dead? He was dead to everything he'd known before and still had his crystal to hide his energy. He couldn't turn Super because for some reason it caused the crystal to overload, but he could still train and he'd much rather be a loved and cared for human than a shunned Saiyajin.  
  
Goten quickly came to trust and respect both Lime and her grandfather and accepted them as his own family, saying that he had amnesia and no longer remembered his own name. He wasn't much of a liar, so they probably had figured out that he remembered something-Lime's grandfather was especially perceptive- but neither of them had called him on it, so he'd been happy, eventually even learning to synthesize more crystals as his knowledge of the sciences grew.   
  
Anyway, he was happy, he could train, and had nearly reached, in his normal form, the power he'd once held as a Super Saiyajin, until one day... disaster struck. The man who he now recognized as his grandfather decided he should go to school, noticing that he tended to try to escape friendly relationships in any way, shape, or form, that didn't involve him and his grandfather, and he felt that Gohan could use some friends, so he sent both Goten and his now beautiful daughter to school, which is how Goten ended up in the nurse's office on a Monday morning, stared at by his slightly worried best friend and adopted sister. This was Goten's life.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
So how was it? Bad? Terrible? The worst you've ever read? Please just tell me! The worst thing you can do to a would be author is to ignore them! 


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